Mineichi Koga

Mineichi Koga (25 September 1885-31 March 1944) was an Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy who led the Combined Fleet from April 1943 to March 1944, succeeding Isoroku Yamamoto and preceding Soemu Toyoda.

Biography
Mineichi Koga was born on 25 September 1885 in Saga Prefecture, Japan. He joined the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1906 and rose to the rank of Vice Admiral in 1936 on the eve of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Koga led the China Area Fleet from 1941, and during the Battle of Hong Kong at the start of World War II, he led the Japanese naval operations against the United Kingdom. In April 1943, he took command of the Combined Fleet after Isoroku Yamamoto's death; he sought a decisive victory over the US Pacific Fleet, but on 31 March 1944 he was killed when his aircraft crashed during a tropical storm, never getting to fight against the United States.